Can we experience plasma by rubbing hands together?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of plasma and whether it can be experienced through the act of rubbing hands together. Participants explore the nature of static electricity, ionization, and the conditions required for plasma to exist.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant recounts a seminar claim that rubbing hands together can create an experience of plasma, while questioning the validity of this claim.
  • Another participant explains that an electric field can accelerate electrons, leading to ionization, but does not directly connect this to the act of rubbing hands.
  • A different participant asserts that while electrostatic charge may be generated, plasma will not be produced from this action, agreeing with the initial definition of plasma as ionized gas.
  • Another contributor emphasizes that the sensation felt from rubbing hands is heat, not plasma, and notes that human hands are dielectric materials, making ion generation unlikely.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally disagree on the claim that rubbing hands together can produce plasma, with multiple viewpoints presented regarding the nature of the experience and the definitions involved.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved assumptions regarding the definitions of plasma and static electricity, as well as the conditions necessary for ionization to occur in this context.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in the properties of plasma, static electricity, and the physics of charge interactions may find this discussion relevant.

121910marj
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Here's the story, me and my boyfriend share things we learned from attending seminars.
He told me that a speaker in one of the seminars he attended last month told them that by rubbing our two hands together, we could experience the presence of 'plasma' - the fourth state of matter. Here's exactly what he asked me to do:

1.) Rub hands together in few minutes and take a deep breath
2.) slowly move your hands apart while rubbing
3.) then you will experience quite an attraction, the speaker referred to as plasma

i argued that what we experience by rubbing both hands is static electricity and plasma exists when gases get ionized upon heated, like the sun and gases in a fluorescent lamp.

Am I right? or am I missing something else.

Thanks in advance :)
 
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Electric field accelerates electrons, causing collision. High-energy electrons can ionize the atom upon collision. Of course heat and light can do the same.
 
You may or may not generate some electrostatic charge by rubbing your hands together vigourously and then separating them.

You certainly will NOT generate plasma. Your definition of plasma seems "spot on".
 
I think what we feel when we rub hands together is heat but not plasma. The plasma is the flowing of ionized charge. Our hands are dielectric material, so it is not reasonable to have ions by rubbing hand.
 
thank you all for the replies, very well appreciated. :)
 

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